


Nervous Stutters and Neck Rubs

by orphan_account



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Funny, Love Confessions, Plotting relationships, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-12 19:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4491312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Inquisitor, the person with the anchor and with a fate to save the world from the breech.... is extremely shy, and getting an unexpected confession of love sends her in a confused panic. Seeking the aid of her inner circle, they plot a way to help bring Lirani and Cullen together... in the most discreet way possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Inquisitor I brought some of the-" Cullen quiets down after walking through the door to her quarters, Lirani head resting on her desk as she naps.

"Oh sorry I didn't know you were sle-" he stops, after all he was talking to someone asleep.

"That's right you're asleep-" he realises again that he was still talking to a sleeping person.

He rubs the back of his neck. The obvious thing to do was to give her the reports another time, or just leave them on her desk with a note but...

He gulps, moving quietly towards her as she rests. He could feel his heart beginning to race, he was nervous after all. The closer he was the clearer he could see her chest rise and fall, her hair flowing down her head and shrouding her face.

"This feels stupid," he sighs, but then again how many of these chances is he going to get. Cullen takes a deep breath, clenching his fist and jaw as he speaks.

"I... uhm, ahem. Well... I've-" he stumbles again and again over his words, not able to form them without his face blushing red. The heat reaches his ears, making him itch them as he rethinks his actions. But looking at the rise and fall of Lirani's gentle breathing reminded him that she won't hear his words.

"Ever since Haven... ever since we... met I- well... I think I've begun to develop... feelings for you, you understand?" he asks her, rolling his eyes at himself when she quietly grumbles in her sleep.

"When you chose to sacrifice your life, or almost sacrifice your life, I wanted to stop you. It felt.. wrong to see you leave like that without being able to say anything... Of course I said something but that's not what I meant..."

Cullen furrows his brows, his hand wiping over his eyes as he sighs. This shouldn't be so hard he thought. He looks at his other hand, which was sub-consciously scrunching up the report from all his flustering. Finally placing down the report and gently smoothing it over with his palm, he makes his way out and gives up.

Before he opens the door however, he looked at her once more. With his mouth opening and closing, empty words and confessions that fail to pass his lips eventually make their way through.

"I love you, Lirani," he said quietly, but loud enough for her to catch the wisp of it if she was awake.

"Ugh... Maker, help me," he exhales as he walks out her door, letting it shut gently with the soft creek of the joints and the push of wind brushing weakly across the frills of Lirani's mat.

The room is silent for a moment before Lirani takes in a deep breath. She twists her body, bringing her hands up so she could bury her face in them. She could feel her hot cheeks on her sweating palms, letting out a tiny squeal within the layers of hair and skin that she concealed herself in.

Waiting a few more moments to collect her thoughts, she sits up slowly before making her way out of her quarters. Cautiously, she scanned the area of Cullen's presence before inching closer to Josephine's office.

Before walking in, she opens a slightly crack in her door, enough to alert the ambassador.

"Oh, hello Inquisitor. What brings you... here-?" she asks as she watches her scan her office through the small crack in the door before slamming it wide open, shocking Josephine and almost making her drop her clipboard.

"JOSEPHINE, WHAT DO I DO?" Lirani screams, wilting to her knees, as she can't hold in any more excitement. Josephine moves to her slide carefully, not sure how the seemingly hysterical woman will act.

"W-what happened?" Josephine questions her, bending down slightly to place her hand on her shoulder.

"Cullen... Cullen, he-he...."

"What? What did he do?"

"He.... confessed to me. He said he had feelings for me!"

"What?! Really?!" Josephine said with her hand over her mouth in shock.

"But there's a problem. He thought I was asleep so I'm not sure it count. I was worried I would make him embarrassed if I showed that I was actually awake, but..! Ugh, Maker. Josephine, I can't do it. I don't know how to face him. I want to return his feelings but... how?"

Josephine giggles as she watches the Inquisitor, blushing and squealing as if she was a little girl again. She crouches down to meet her eye to eye, rubbing her shoulders reassuringly as she grins.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll figure out something for you," she laughs, seeing the Inquisitor flustered for the first time was quite a sight to see after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josephine has a plan that could possibly bring them together...

Josephine returns to her desk, fiddling with the quill between her fingers and Lirani leans against a wall while they think. Josephine felt a bit confident, for she was experienced in Orlesian dilemmas, how different would this be? Unfortunately, Lirani was terrible at this kind of affair.

"Oh! What if we-"

"I'm sorry Inquisitor but I don't think setting up a Mabari pen will help with the Commander confessing his undying love to you, not like this."

"Ah, okay then..."

Lirani shakes her head, there must be something she can suggest to maybe aid with her conundrum. But her mind is nothing but swirling butterflies as her head drifts off into the clouds, she just couldn't stay focused.

She sighs, re-contemplating just being blunt with the Commander... "But there's just no way-" she thought. What if he rejects her? Would their positions as Inquisitor and Commander to the Inquisition become too awkward? Oh Maker, what if he distances himself from her? Alas, the Inquisitor was just too shy.

Lirani throws her head back gently to express the troubling event taking a toll on her, pressing her hair into the stone cold wall behind her.

"How am I going to do this?" she blurts out quietly, not expecting an answer from Josephine, who was engrossed in planning. "And we walk past each other so much..."

Josephine finger twitches, as if those words sparked a new train of thought in her mind.

"I think I have an idea," she says, Lirani looking alerted at her as she pays full attention plan.

"Inquisitor, you call for a war meeting and Leliana, Cullen and I will join you as usual. However! You will give him extremely difficult orders, enough to make him stay back to ensure he has the roads and locations all mapped out," Josephine speaks excitedly, seeming quite proud of her idea. "When the Commander is finished, he will walk towards my office and we should start gossiping about him! That will surely stop him in his tracks and make him eavesdrop. Then you confess your love for him to me, and that way surely Cullen will be sure to pursue you! Well?"

Lirani nods in approval, nervous but couldn't wait to try it out. She becomes jittery as she imagines the scene take place in her head. The Commander would surely blush, right?

"Oh, but-" she questions, tilting her head in thought. "Leliana should be informed of this plan too, no?"

"That's quite alright," Josephine says as she puts up her hand in reassurance. "I have a feeling she already knows anyway."

_"I do know," Leliana says quietly as she leans against the wall in the dark corner of Josephine's office._

"Le-Leliana?! When did you-"

"See? So not to worry, all we have to do is figure out a complex order for the commander to carry out," Josephine smiles, flipping through some documents as she looks for any tasks Cullen's soldiers could carry out.

"Do you know what you want to say to the Commander when it is your queue?" Leliana asks as she steps out of the shadows. Lirani purses her lips, thinking of what she could possibly say to him.

It was weird for Lirani, to think about what she liked about Cullen. She was inexperienced in love and thus does not know the reason why yet. She thought back, back to when she met him, how did he captivate her so quickly?

Maybe it was when she went to close that massive breech, all the way back in Haven, when she was still deemed a prisoner. The anchor still hurt a lot then, making her wobbly with each pulse that not only seared the sky, but burned her nerves and scorched her soul in agonising pain. She had just closed one with Cassandra, Varric and Solas beside her as they fended the demons away. At the time everything felt like a blur. Waking up in chains, walking out of a village with people demanding for your head, blamed for something she was not responsible for. But Varric, Solas, and eventually Cassandra and Leliana, began to believe in her. Maybe Cullen, like the others in her inner circle, gave her hope when everything felt like a nightmare.

So... is he just a friend then? If she compared them to others then mayb- No. There was more to that, but she couldn't quite place her finger on how she fell for him in the first place.

\---

".... did you get all that?" Lirani spoke in the most usual sounding voice she could muster. Despite trying to look as normal as she could on the outside, her heart was racing as they carried out Josephine's plan.

As expected, Josephine and Leliana nod confidently at the tasks they were given. On the other hand, Cullen furrows his eyebrows as he scans his eyes across the war table map. Lirani grins, but hides it immediately, their plan was going smoothly so far after all.

"Alright, you're dismissed," she says, the Ambassador and Spymaster following her out of the war room, leaving Cullen in the war room... or so they hoped.

Cullen follows them out as well, his eyes trained on the report in his hand as he mumbles something to himself.

"Cu-Cullen? I- uh... Sorry for giving you such a difficult order," Lirani stutters as she speaks to him.

"That's quite all right, Inquisitor," he replied in his usual tone of voice.

"Do you.. need to stay in the war room for a little longer? To make sure that you have all the locations and everything correct?"

"Ah, there's no need, Inquisitor."

....What?

Cullen continues to walk back to his tower, his eyes returning to the report in his hand.

"I asked one of my soldiers visiting Val Royeaux to purchase a smaller map very similar to the one we have in the war room. It arrived a few days ago and I can use it to confirm what I need," he says, walking past the door and disappearing from sight when the door slams behind him.

Josephine and Leliana look at each other before looking at the Inquisitor looking absolutely mortified. She had not heard of the map at all, a seemingly small solution to Cullen's problems has crushed Lirani's plot.

"I'm... sorry Inquisitor," Josephine says apologetically as she slowly admits the flaw in her plan. "I seem to have overlooked the small map that had arrived.... I- Forgive me, Inquisitor."

"I must've overlooked it too, my apologies," Leliana says to Lirani, before turning around and walking away, concealing the grin she could no longer hold in from them.

Josephine moves to Lirani's side, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder once again.

"So, what do you plan to do now?" she asks.

Lirani sighs, the disappointment of needing to resolve Cullen's confession taking longer than she thought was a blow to her esteem.

"I'll... seek out another solution," she mutters, taking a deep breath to prepare for her next endeavour.


End file.
